Pocket Suspense has one major drawback, which is that its storage space is much too small! And so. It occurred to me, one day while I was---out of habit---absentmindedly casting it repeatedly just for something to fidget with, that its bubbling and isolating up the exact same ultra-far Subspace as Novice Repository during its Early mastery. Which meant a similar solution might suffice. With a plan in mind, I cast the spell. Observing as the discarded old bubble slips out of True Space, enters the void and travels far far away.
Next, I allow the spell to do its job in freeing up a spot within my soul, this process consumes 50 mana out of my current pool of 10,920 mana. Then, as the spell were just about to send 30% of what is left to capture its usual choice of Subspace, I take control and instead direct them to the nearest Inventory-Subspace as intuited by Spatial Intuition, managing to encompass a tiny bit less than a four meters diameter bubble. Which is awesomely large! I then wholeheartedly observe as the bubble is brought in and the last 70% of my mana is used to displace the bubble from the passage of time. At long last ending the cast.
Suppressing the giddiness of having a decently-sized timeless inventory space, I proceeded to wake up the closest person and went to sit by a tree for a 30 minutes sleep. He will wake the others and they will get things organized for our departure. Note to self, finish today's devour quota.
---
I was expecting us to fly home, which is viable enough when it's just Henry, with his Kirin, and I with my Dragon. But Both Roy and Natasha selected a Grizzly Bear and a War Horse, respectively. Both are sadly land creatures, while Kirana and Yuliana's familiar are non-mounts and they had to hitch a ride. This sadly meant we're bounding along the grounds of wildlands instead.
I'm currently alone in a young but lush forest hunting for today's meal, having just left the group. Not long into the hunt, I met an interesting creature called Rock Hog which is pretty much what its name describes, a car-sized pig-like creature with rocks growing out of it. I would've devoured it, if not for it being level 12. Nearby, I also saw its level 25 version, a Boulder Boar, standing at a whopping five meters tall. For a moment there I thought it was a large chunk of walking stone… which, it probably kinda is. Cool!
Within the range of my Mana Sense are also the usual Rats, Vespas, Mosquitoes, various birds and primates. Sadly no Roach, I like the gains from devouring them. So, as my preference is unavailable, I'm looking for something new. And I don't feel like having some birds today, nor monkeys. I just keep my eyes and Sense open as I wander among the trees.
Monkey, rat, rat, vespa nest, boar, rabbit, mosquito, monke—rabbit? Never seen those around the city, maybe city bred rabbits lack a wild rabbit's sense of danger and had been eaten off by predators. Interested, I Sneakingly approach whilst blending into the background. 'Inspect.'
** DING **
Flash Rabbit lv 12
Ah, level's too high. But, besides this one, I can Sense six more within its burrow. Curious, I use Mold Earth and open up their nest, deepening the hole and making tall walls to keep them from running away—the world flashed super bright, blinding me real good… Flash Rabbit! Damnit!
To make matters worse, I can Sense-see them easily hopping away out of the hole. Led by the first rabbit I saw. The fact that they're powerful jumpers did not cross my mind. In haste, I captured one of the last hoppers out of the air with my hand and held it immobile, then healed my blindness with Lesser Heal… Upon observation this one looks smaller. 'Inspect.'
** DING **
Flash Rabbit lv 8
I assume a younger specimen. Casting Shrink Touch, I nonchalantly break its neck with a pinch then hastily toss it into my open jaws and swallow. Two more levels left. I fulfilled that with an unfortunate level 2 Toxic Fly. Then, I caught a second Toxic Fly—that I hastily shove into Pocket Suspense the instant it dies—and made my way back to the others.
In the lead is Henry, alone riding his Kirin. Followed by Roy on his furry Bear, then both Natasha and Yuliana on a handsome Horse, and lastly Kirana on my Dragon. She told me how she had always dreamed of riding one, so I offered for her to ride on mine. After all, with my stats, it is no trouble for me to keep up with the mounts, even on foot.
Even now, I still wonder why everyone kept crossing their hands behind Kirana's back when I offered her the ride---I do not mind my friend hitching a ride---nor why she does not look like someone living her dream.
** DING **
Combat summary
Enemies slain:
Flash Rabbit lv 8 x 1
Toxic Fly lv 2 x 2
12 syscred and 12 exp awarded
Spell mastery rank up, Blink Intermediate > Peak
Spell mastery rank up, Pocket Suspense Early > Basic
Skill level up, Visualization 31 > 32
Skill level up, Unarmed Combat Proficiency 16 > 17
Strength + 5
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Constitution + 6
Dexterity + 8
Intelligence + 6
Wisdom + 1
Will + 1
Charisma + 4
I checked my updates as we're making our way home and soon enough, we arrived.
Home sweet home.
---
Midday, I depart to continue expanding my map while our resident twin crafters work together with like minded people to solve our lack of transportation. Meanwhile, our combatants schedule timely delves into the Dungeon at Kedoya to give themselves, then as many people as possible Greater Anima Spirit Mounts. Speaking of familiar mounts, I end up giving my extra egg---the gryphon---to my niece, Mini. As from the moment she saw ours, she insisted on getting one. There is seemingly nothing stopping children from entering any Dungeon besides very understandably worried parents. So this temporarily eliminates her reason to, as she already have a familiar, and doubles as extra protection, three Roaches with one disk.
I exit my Tower at Palembang, "hi!" greeting the leader and his delegation who was awaiting me by the Tower. They bowed and together yelled, "welcome sir Zane!" Which I think is weird. I don't even know their names. So, I awkwardly summon Gon, my named Dragon familiar, say my thanks and farewell. Then hastily fly north.
Short simple names are best.
Gon may be a slower way to fly, but she makes up for it by costing zero mana and making me feel like a dragon rider. After about an hour, my first stop, Kuala Lumpur came into view—they're under attack!
"Catch up but stay in the air!" I command Gon, hastily casting Micro Flight and jumping off of him. In a rush, I was reminded of an airplane which is what I shaped my force barrier into on this cast. It's more streamlined and aerodynamic shape will hopefully boost my flight speed. Then, in hopes of arriving before it is too late, I invest 50 mana onto an explosive backwards force while maintaining my height by slight tilts of the flaps on the plane wings.
Not allowing myself the time to shrink by more than 80% made the spell very mana intensive, but is really still nothing to my current mana pool. A System ding and another 120 mana into the spell to traverse the fifteen or so kilometers left between me and the city before I crashland on to an unsuspecting group of Hobgoblin Mages. Smack-dab behind enemy line. Two died from direct impact with the last three mortally wounded, so I ignore what is probably two thousand or so health damage—nothing overly much for my pool of above 8000 Hp—and simply crunch their heads with my bare hands.
They have wild Gobs and Hobs here?---As the thought crosses my mind, black flames sprout out of my fingers. Will-o'-Woe, Goblins and any Goblin variants! Lastly, the core manifests into the palm of my hand. I watch the spell eat away at their targets for a moment, before making my way to---Blinking when convenient---the humans, slaying anything standing between me and them. At the same time, setting the Woe-Core in my hand to condense a Mana Core when it's done, just in case I forget.
Even amidst the chaos. I easily notice that for every one Hobgoblin I can see, ten various Goblins follow it, acting as a squad of sorts. And there are Hobgoblin Mages interspaced at fixed intervals on the backline. Coordinated, they are. Rather, even too coordinated and numerous for a random attack.
A minute later, I arrive on the frontlines.
The Goblins are running for their lives, ignoring commands and enemies alike. While the Hobs are either defending from human attacks or trying to reign in the panicking Goblins. I happily made their lives harder by cutting off the legs of any Hob I can reach and leaving them on the ground crippled for the humans to pick experience points off, while at the same time, head-disking the mages.
"Siapa awak?" Someone demanded I identify myself in Malay, our languages are similar enough that I could guess the meaning of simple sentences.
"Raksasa apa itu?" Another asks, this one I'm not sure about, to me; raksasa translates as giant, and I definitely ain't one.
"Siapa peduli, raksasa adalah raksasa." They're like. Who cares, once a giant always a giant..? but, I'm no giant—"serang!"
At that last word, which is unmistakably; Attack! I quickly finish amputating the nearby Hobs of their mobility and turn to look at the two… warriors? "Wait, wait!" I yell at them in english. One hand rising to a stop gesture while my face armor opens up to reveal the person inside. "I'm here to help!"
"Stop, stop! Itu manusia!" Someone said, finally recognizing I'm no giant. Besides, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Thereafter, they welcomed me into their ranks and we successfully won the war. As war this was. One in the standards of the multiverse? No reason, no warning, no mercy. Just deaths and victory.
Their combatants yelled in victory and rushed onwards to slay as many fleeing enemy greenskin as possible. While I stay in place and watch them, awaiting the person I know is fast approaching. An important looking man bringing with him an entourage of important looking people, Inspect tells me they are all under level eight.
"Kenal pasti diri anda!" One of the entourage yelled at me, this sentence translates kinda weirdly to my language. Something about me knowing myself?
"English?" I ask calmly.
They talked among themselves for a moment before the same guy yelled again, this time in english. "Identify yourself! What is your purpose here?"
"Hi, I'm Zane." I reply with a human grin, specifically. Wouldn't want to scare them on my first impression. "I'm from Indonesia, I point at the general direction of Rumah. But our continent is now one, and our reality is no longer as it once was. So we at Rumah, which is the name of our Territory, prefer to identify ourselves as Argead, or if we must be specific; Pangean."
They look at me as if I'm an idiot. The leader himself directly answered me this time, all thoughts of looking aloft gone with the wind. "What brings you here then, Mr. Zane? These are dangerous times. I believe it is far from ideal to be traveling the world, alone to boot."
"I am not, actually." Gon landed beside me right that moment, startling them good. Then, after they've calmed down, I tell him of our Motto; Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. And how we decided to more deeply abide by it during such dangerous times. "I assume you are the leader of these fine people, would you be interested in working with us?" I ask after some lengthy explanations.
Around the eight or so minutes of our talk, some of the combatants had decided to return and listen in on our merry conversation as opposed to chasing down easy experience points. Note to self; remind them to hunt those horny monsters to extinction before it's too late.
"Please hold while we convene." He tells me as they all walk quite some distance away and form up into a circle around Mr. Leader.